Quick Take | Gentle vigil

India needs to reimagine elder care through a more humanistic lens. A Dutch model of treatment is having its moment

An 84-year-old Alzheimer's patient enjoys a swing in the village Landais Alzheimer site for Alzheimer's patients in Dax, southwestern France (Photo | AFP)

The US is reimagining elder care by launching a ‘dementia village’ with shops, a restaurant and a theatre designed to treat residents as people first, not patients. It’s inspired by De Hogeweyk in the Netherlands, a pioneering gated community that values freedom, safety and social life over an institutional routine. Residents live as normally as possible with support, often reducing the need for strong medication. In India, where dementia cases may reach 16.9 million by 2036 and one in five citizens will be elderly by 2050, the challenge is greater. India needs higher budgets, a national dementia registry and public awareness to distinguish normal ageing from disease—ensuring timely diagnosis and compassionate care.